Dataset of metabolites extracted from African walnut (Tetracarpidium conophorum) using two different solvents

A variety of walnut known as Tetracarpidium conophorum is widely cultivated in several parts of Africa for its edible nuts. These nuts have been reported for their huge antioxidant, anti-obesity, and anti-depressant potentials, but remain underutilized due to their poor storage and preservation. This is why the nuts are mostly cooked and consumed as snacks whenever in season. This data article reports the untargeted metabolite profile of boiled and dried African walnut extracted using two different mixtures of solvents. The raw nuts obtained from a local market in Osun State, Nigeria, were processed by cooking for 20 min, deshelled, diced, dried at 60 ± 2 °C for 6 h, and stored until further analysis. The dried walnut samples were extracted with acetonitrile/methanol/water (40:40:20 v/v/v) and methanol/water (80:20 v/v) as solvents, before being analysed by gas chromatography high-resolution time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-HRTOF-MS) system. Data obtained from the analysis were further classified into different compounds, including alcohols, esters, hydrocarbons, phytosterols, vitamins, and many more. Their retention time, observed ion mass-to-charge ratio, molecular formula, and average peak areas were also reported. These data thus serve as a source of metabolites comparison for other walnuts, may be useful for the identification of functional compounds available in this neglected food crop, and encourage its utilization in developing functional foods.